On the front page of last week’s Palisadian-Post, we reported on swooping blackbirds dive-bombing shoppers and residents as they walked along the Swarthmore business block, between Sunset and Monument. ‘I was hit as I went to Starbucks for coffee,’ said Chamber of Commerce president Roy Robbins, whose store is on street, ‘and they got me on the way back.’ Steve Harvey, who writes the ‘Only in L.A.’ column for the Los Angeles Times, couldn’t resist following up on this story by adding quotes from Bill Bruns, managing editor of the Post, who had also been attacked by the birds while walking to work. Harvey’s Sunday morning column was headlined ”The Birds’ Comes to the Palisades.’ Not surprisingly, this tale piqued interest from local television news operations. Veteran reporter Linda Alvarez (who happens to live in the Palisades but had already reported to work Monday) was sent out by CBS/KCAL to do a 90-second segment titled ‘Dive-Bombing Birds.’ As Alvarez spoke to Bruns on Swarthmore about the Post’s story, the television audience could see the little blackbirds give an uncanny impression of the birds in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie, as they swooped past his head numerous times. Later in day, a Fox News crew also showed up to do a similar feature about the now infamous birds, and the story was picked up by UPI. As of Wednesday morning, the London Times had not yet sent a reporter. The explanation for the birds’ action is simple: they have a nest of baby birds that they are trying to protect. From Peter Kreitler’s second-floor office above Whispers, one can see the little heads. When the bird parents aren’t trying to scare people away, they’re busy searching for food for their hungry nestlings. Officer H. Dinh at L.A. City Animal Control said they had numerous calls about the birds from Palisades residents. ‘Let’s try and coexist and let the wild stay wild,’ Dinh said. ‘They’re protecting their nest, it will only be a few weeks until the young are old enough to leave.’ Until last week there was also a second nest in a basket on the light pole in front of Rumours and Wells Fargo Bank. Officials at the bank contacted Animal Control, which sent Officer Sunaga to deal with the diving bird problem. Angela Thwaites, a Rumours employee, said she saw the officer take the basket with the nest around the side of the building with the mother bird following. According to Animal Control, the nest was relocated to the side of the bank.
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